“Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades,” Trump said in a formal statement.

“Fidel Castro’s legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights. While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long, and toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve,” he added.

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Trump also offered a look at the future

“Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty. I join the many Cuban Americans who supported me so greatly in the presidential campaign, including the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association that endorsed me, with the hope of one day soon seeing a free Cuba.”

In a 1999 guest column in the Miami Herald, Trump voiced his opinion of the Cuban leader.

” … it would be instructive to remember the role that Castro played in the struggle between — yes — good and evil. He turned his island over to his Soviet patrons. He was quite willing to have nuclear missiles, launched from Cuban soil, destroy American cities. He exported revolution to Central and South America. He abetted Libyan terrorism. He gave asylum to murderers. He posted troops in Africa,” Trump wrote.

“More important, he turned his nation into a maximum-security prison. His regime controls every aspect of human life — access to food, medical assistance, schools and employment. Castro has not mellowed with age,” Trump added.

Trump noted that Castro was synonymous with oppression.

“Terror continues to reign. The secret police are unrestrained. The disappearance and beatings of citizens are still tools of civilian control, as is the suppression of free speech. Castro’s ruthless domination of the Cuban people has not lessened even as his regime crumbles,” he wrote, summing up Castro’s Cuba as “a brutal police state; Castro rules through terror, intimidation and brutality.”

“The president’s one-sided deal for Cuba benefits only the Castro Regime,” Trump said in Miami.

“All of the concessions Barack Obama has granted the Castro regime were done through executive order, which means the next president can reverse them and that is what I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands.